In the beginning, there was the Wordpress… When asked by Dave to join this collective blog, I was excited by the idea, but unsure of what my contribution would look like. I already have a decent web presence. I am a micro-blogger (see http://tyforquer.tumblr.com and/or http://twitter.com/tyforquer), a Facebook addict, and an owner of a neglected Myspace page (which has only survived this long because of its convenient media player). For me to commit to this project, it had to offer something different than these other outlets. I needed a muse. I found my inspiration in the prophet Moses (that sounds much more pious than I intended). You see, at the time I am writing this, I have been growing my hair out for a few years now, and haven’t shaved in over two months. As such, I have begun to resemble a biblical character (not an accurate representation of a biblical character, mind you, but a blond-haired blue-eyed European version of a biblical character like those found in so many illustrated children’s Bibles). Thus, a few people around campus have taken to calling me “Moses” and making jokes about things like parting the Red Sea and bringing forth water from a rock. As I thought more about Moses, however, I realized there may be a useful metaphor here. According to the Judeo-Christian tradition, when Moses led the Hebrew people out of Egypt, they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years before reaching the promised land. In my experiences in 20th and 21st Century music, I have had amazing experiences but I have also spent a certain amount of wandering in the wilderness. Sometimes they are one and the same. I remember experiences such as hearing the music of Steve Reich or Thomas DeLio for the first time and thinking, “I have no idea what I just heard…but I think I liked it.” So, this blog will be an avenue for exploring the wilderness of contemporary music. Of course, there is no promised land in this metaphor. The reward comes from learning to appreciate the wilderness.

Homepage: http://tyforquer.tumblr.com